Wishing
by Cassandra Mulder
Summary: Angel gets a surprise from the gang on his 250th.


Title: Wishing   
  
Author: Cassandra Mulder   
  
E-mail: dana_mulder32@yahoo.com   
  
Rating: PG   
  
Website: My Hero http://www.envy.nu/angelmine   
  
Spoilers: None   
  
Classification: Challenge fic; C/A; Fluffy fluffy fluff fluff   
  
Disclaimer: "Angel" the series, and the characters aren't mine. If they were, do you think I'd let Cordy have Angel? No way! They all belong to Joss, David G., Mutant Enemy, Fox, and the WB. Don't sue, all I have is my Angel poster and my Sunnydale High Yearbook, and you ain't gettin' either one! ;)   
  
Distribution: You can have it, but let me know who's adopted it. ;)   
  
Summary: Angel gets surprised by the gang on his 250th.   
  
Author's Notes: This is a challenge issued by Love's Bitch on the Stranger Things forum, my home on the web. :) I thought I could get some fluff out of it, so I went for it. Hope it doesn't suck too badly, I just thought this was a cute idea. Here are the terms and conditions I had to follow:   
  
1. Big party or intimate, you choose. If it's big then you must include the Scooby Gang.   
  
2. A birthday wish.   
  
3. If big, you must include a Buffy/Cordelia conversation and Spike.   
  
4. If intimate, there must be champagne.   
***********************************************************************   
  
Angel found it miraculous that *he* even remembered his birthday anymore, so he didn't expect anyone else to.   
  
But he'd kind of been hoping...   
  
And yet, it was just another day at Angel Investigations. Not even Cordelia had said a word about it all morning. It was his two hundred and fiftieth! How could they all forget?   
  
It's just a stupid birthday, he thought. You're too old to let things like that bother you. Or maybe you're just too old, and that's what bothers you.   
  
"Hey, Angel!" Fred said, coming down the stairs. "Whatcha doing?"   
  
"Not much right now, Fred," he answered.   
  
"Oh. Well, I just came down to look through Wesley's books. He said I could borrow anything I like."   
  
"That's nice," Angel replied, but Fred was already trotting off to Wesley's office.   
  
Gunn was the next one through the Hyperion lobby. He searched through the weapons cabinet, grunting here and there, but he never noticed Angel as he found the stakes he was looking for, and exited without a word.   
  
Yup, just another normal day, Angel thought.   
******   
  
Cordelia cornered Wesley in his office.   
  
"Do you know what day it is?" she hissed.   
  
Wesley looked puzzled. "Wednesday?" he answered.   
  
"Noooo!" Cordelia hissed again. She had to keep her voice low, otherwise Angel might hear. "It's Angel's birthday!"   
  
Wesley looked at his desk calendar. "So it is," he said. But he didn't look any less puzzled.   
  
"It's his two hundred and fiftieth, Wesley. The man deserves a party, don't you think?"   
  
It had been so long since Cordelia had planned a party, that she would do this with or without anyone's approval.   
  
"Well, I suppose so. What exactly did you have in mind?"   
  
"Something small, intimate. I mean, Angel's not exactly the party animal, and we don't exactly have friends and acquaintances running out our ears, if you know what I mean."   
  
"Hmmm," Wesley conceded.   
  
"So, tonight, here will be all right, right?" she asked excitedly.   
  
"Uh, yes, of course. It's Angel's hotel, we should have it here."   
  
"Great. We can do this around eight, demon invasions pending, of course. And I'll go get a cake, and decorations... This will be fun!" Cordelia was grinning from ear to ear.   
  
She ran out of the office and through the lobby, grabbed her coat, swooshed back past Angel to get her keys, and had disappeared before the words "Hey, Cordy" could even pass his lips.   
  
What was wrong with everyone today?   
**********   
  
Night had fallen, and still there was no mention of Angel's birthday. There wasn't a case to work on yet either, and that was almost as frustrating.   
  
Suddenly, Cordelia was moaning in pain and nearly dropped to the floor. Angel caught her before she could hit the ground.   
  
"What is it?" he asked worriedly.   
  
"A vampire, in the park. He's going to attack a young girl. Hurry," she said.   
  
"Gunn, you can come with me, I think we can take him," Angel said. "Are you all right, Cordelia?" he said, concern in his eyes.   
  
"I'm fine. Just go, Angel." It was the same thing she always said to him.   
  
As soon as Gunn and Angel were out the door, Cordelia stood up.   
  
She turned to Wesley. "He's going to kill us when he gets back, isn't he?"   
  
"Yes. You better decorate fast," Wesley replied.   
  
"Fred!" Cordelia called. "It's time to get ready!"   
************************************   
  
Angel trudged into the hotel, not knowing whether to be angry, confused, or both.   
  
But before he could think about it too much, the lights in the lobby went on, and Cordelia, Wesley, Fred, and Gunn all yelled, "Surprise!" in unison.   
  
Angel should have been furious, but his friends had gone to so much trouble that he just couldn't be. Right now he had one of his rare grins planted firmly on his face, and it wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.   
  
He couldn't believe what he saw before him. There was an enormous cake, paper streamers everywhere, and champagne. It was half way between classy and a children's party, but it was all Cordelia, and he knew it.   
  
"Guys, you didn't have to do this..." he said, rather overwhelmed at the moment.   
  
Cordelia just gave him a look that said otherwise. She knew he'd sulk for days if they didn't remember. He may be old, but like most men, he was still just a big baby. And she'd do anything to make him smile.   
  
This was working.   
  
After a rousing chorus of "Happy Birthday" (that made Angel wish he was deaf), he blew out the candles on top of the cake. Cordelia had planted a two, five, and zero in the icing. It wouldn't do to burn the hotel down trying to get that many candles on a cake. Not that she wouldn't have tried if she'd thought she could do it.   
  
"What didja wish?" Fred asked.   
  
Angel looked at Cordelia.   
  
"He can't tell you that, Fred. Then it won't come true."   
  
"Oh, yeah. Sorry," Fred said with a nervous laugh.   
  
"It's okay, Fred," Angel assured her.   
  
"Presents!" Cordelia exclaimed.   
  
Angel was really getting embarrassed now. "You didn't have to get presents..."   
  
"Duh! Of course we had to. What's a birthday without presents, silly?" Cordelia said.   
  
Angel just smiled awkwardly.   
  
Fred, Wes, and Gunn pointed out the package that was from them. It was long, and Angel had a guess as to what it was before he even touched the box.   
  
He took the lid off the box and there before him was some sort of ancient sword. Wesley really was looking quite pleased with himself.   
  
"It's medieval," Wesley said, as if that explained everything.   
  
Angel admired the weapon. A vamp could never have too many swords, they were one of Angel's favorite weapons.   
  
"Thanks, guys, it's great," Angel said. "But you really didn't have to."   
  
"We wanted to," Wesley assured him.   
  
"Those are mine right there," Cordelia said, pointing to three boxes on the table.   
  
He looked startled, but her look simply said, "Note the quantity and die." He kept his mouth shut, and she smiled.   
  
The first box contained a red, button down shirt.   
  
There she goes with the color thing again, Angel thought, amused.   
  
The second held khaki pants, and the third a powder blue long sleeved pullover.   
  
He gave her a grin. She never gave up on anything, that was for sure.   
  
"Thanks, Cordy, they're, uh, nice."   
  
"If you don't like them..."   
  
"No! No, I do." Geez, this was embarrassing. She'd put a lot of thought into all of this, how could he not like them? "I really do."   
  
The expressing feelings thing wasn't coming any easier to him. Even when he wanted to, it just never came out right. Especially not with Cordy.   
  
She smiled at him, and he knew she understood.   
  
He turned to the others. "Thank you so much. For being my friends, for sticking by me when you don't have to."   
  
They didn't have to say anything back. Things were mushy enough as it was.   
  
Cordelia saw the discomfort of the others, and almost laughed. Instead, she asked, "Anyone want cake?"   
  
***********************************************************************   
  
An hour later things had calmed down, and everyone was back to their business, while they waited for business.   
  
Angel had gone upstairs to put his new things away. A few minutes later, Cordelia followed him.   
  
"Hey, birthday boy," she said, sticking her head in the door.   
  
"Hey," he said, turning away from his closet.   
  
She walked up beside him, and mock gasped. "Oh God! There's color in there! Should we call the police?"   
  
He gave her a dirty look and she just laughed at him.   
  
"Come on, grow a sense of humor already! When are you going to model for me?" she asked, looking him up and down.   
  
"Model for you?" The way she was looking at him was doing funny things to him.   
  
"Sure, I bought those clothes so you could wear them. Not just so they'd break up the monotony of the black void that is your closet."   
  
"Maybe later." He looked down at what was in her hands. "What are you doing with that?" he asked, indicating the champagne and two glasses that she held.   
  
"I thought we could have a little birthday toast."   
  
"But I don't..."   
  
"I know, you don't drink the stuff. You don't have to, just toast."   
  
"Well, maybe I'll have a little, considering the occassion," he said, smiling at her slightly.   
  
They sat down on the end of Angel's bed, and after a monumental struggle, Cordelia finally got the cork out of the bottle. She filled the glasses, and set the bottle down on the floor next to the bed.   
  
She raised her glass and Angel followed suit.   
  
"To long life...er..." she frowned.   
  
Angel was about to laugh. "I think I've got that part covered."   
  
"Yeah." She sighed. "To my best friend. May you have two hundred and fifty more years that were easier than the first." She smiled. "I suck at toasts."   
  
"Sounds like a good sentiment to me," Angel said, clinking his glass with hers.   
  
They both drank, and Angel didn't even make a face. He'd always been good with alcohol anyway.   
  
"So, what did you wish for?" Cordelia asked. She was sitting next to Angel on his bed, she had to talk about something to keep from thinking about something else. And to keep from feeling awkward.   
  
"I can't tell, remember?" Angel said, with a devilish grin.   
  
"You can tell me," she said with a nudge.   
  
"Ha ha."   
  
"Angel," she whined.   
  
"Well, I guess since it's been granted, I can tell."   
  
"It has been? Already?"   
  
Angel nodded.   
  
"What is it?"   
  
"This," he said, waving his hand. "You. Here."   
  
Cordelia looked slightly startled. She swallowed hard.   
  
"Me?" she asked in an unusually small voice. Oh God. She took a gulp of her champagne. "Boy, do those bubbles tickle or *what*?" Go with the subject change, she thought desperately.   
  
"Thank you, Cordelia. For this evening. No one's ever done anything like that for me."   
  
She sighed, trying to relax. "You deserved it, Angel. Where would we all be if not for you?"   
  
"I think the question is where would *I* be without all of you?" He paused. "Without *you*."   
  
Cordelia tried not to want him to look at her that way. But she really did, more than he knew.   
  
"I haven't done... anything," she finished lamely.   
  
"No, you've done everything. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me." Might as well be honest, he thought.   
  
Jesus, don't cry, she thought, her eyes getting misty.   
  
Before she could say anything, he leaned towards her, and before he could think better of it, slowly kissed her.   
  
She didn't pull away, but gently kissed back.   
  
He finally had what he'd been wishing for.   
  
The End 


End file.
